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Celebrating the Past, Looking Forward to the Future
A couple of days ago a large gathering (the largest since I have been here) of Warsaw Family from the past and present gathered for a time of celebration at Homecoming 2021. Music included specials from a past choir director and a trio from one of our newest praise team members and her visiting sister and mother. All of the music from the praise band and the specials drew us into worship and helped us focus our attention on the Lord.
We were blessed to here from missionary Lisa Giri - who grew up in the Warsaw Church as the granddaughter of the founding pastor- as she updated us on the details of what is happening with their ministry in Nepal and the health challenges that are faced by her husband Nanda. Afterward we received a special love offering to help them with theit ministry and their health crisis. If you were not able to give Sunday, you can still participate in this love offering by marking your offering for the Giri family on your envelope or by online giving on the church website. The church will see that any additional offerings make it to the Giri family.
One of the highlites of the morning was hearing from the church’s founding pastor- Bishop John Thomas- as he shared his own introduction to Pentecost and the early days of the church- the first Pentecostal church on the peninsuala. At 95 years of age his mind is still crisp and clear. The church was officially founded in 1961 and we are celebrating 60 years of service this year. The service concluded with a stirring in my soul of where the Lord is calling us to focus our attentions in the days and years ahead. These are detailed through the remainder of this post.
The Warsaw Church of God will be focusing on:
Believing the Bible- placing an emphasis on what Scripture says and how it applies to our daily life. Remember Jesus is the Word become flesh and He is the foundation of our faith. If we want to understand our faith and our future better, we need to spend the time understanding the Holy Scriptures and putting them into practice.
We will Love Others- God has called us to action and the first priority after Loving God is loving others. Our faith is put into action, not by the words we say, but by the actions we carry-out for Christ. The love we have in helping those in need, ministering to our commiunity and to being a hospital for the hurting. We are called as a church to see the need and fill it, and find the hurt and help heal it. At times in our ife we are the ones hurting and in need of healing; and at other times we are the ones God is using to help provide healing to the hurts of others.
We will Inspire the Family- Long before God created the church he created the family. From Adam and Eve, Noah, through Abraham. Isaac and Jacob; God made His Covenant with these families and their patriarchs. It is the responsibility of parents to raise their children in the faith and walking the path of Christ. It is our responsibility as a church to partner with them and help provide tools and support material to help along the way. Youth and children’s ministry are important as a church but they are even more important for the parent’s to focus on throughout the week. A new resource we have added as a church is a partnership between the Church of God, our church and Right Now Media to provide thousands of online Bible Study videos and other resources for all ages- including special studies for men, women, children, teens, married, single and more. These resources will help families provide that instruction at home and it will allow the church to strengthen their training for the whole family. More details to follow on this as we rollout this resource in a couple of weeks. We are excited that these resources will be free to our families and at a greatly reduced monthly cost for our church.
Finally we will Worship in Freedom. Worship is important for us individually and corporately, especially to invite the Holy Spirit into our midst. We continue to be focused on pursuing the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to live and work in us and through us. We enjoy great freedoms as Americans but they pail in comparison to the freedoms we have when we allow the Holy Spirit to have full access to our life and we are willng to follow His lead. Jesus assured his disciples that greater works they would do than he did, but this could only happen when he ascended into heaven and sent the Great Comforter to come and dwell in their lives. The Great Comforter- the Holy Spirit came not only for the first disciples and the early church but also for us as disciples of Christ today, and the church of the 21st Century. The comforter, the encourager, the strengthener, and so much more- the Holy Spirit provides us with great freedom in our walk with Christ. Worship is more than just a few songs in a Sunday Service- our life evertday should be worship to our Lord and Savior. This is possible with the help of the Holy Spirit. Worship in Freedom!
Our mission as a church has not changed. We are called to share the Gospel at home and around the world. God wants the Warsaw Church of God to be a lighthouse to the communities of the Northern Neck here in Virginia. Whether you live in Montross, Warsaw, Haynesville, Farnham, Calleo, Heathville, Irvington, Kilmarnock or many other communities in between each of us is called to be a light in that lighthouse sharing Christ in our little piece of the peninsula.
I am excited for the challenge. Please join me on this journey of loving others and sharing Jesus.
In HIS service, Pastor Dana
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Encouragement From Youth Camp
Welcome.
You have discovered my blog page. I am Pastor Dana and I pastor the Warsaw Church of God. Thank you for checking in to read my thoughts, insights and tid-bits of humor along the way.
This morning as I type, I am watching teenagers from churches across the commonwealth enjoy activities like Gaga ball, slip n slides, cards, ping pong and so much more. It is hopeful for me to see these teens and leaders gather to worship with passion and play with enthusiasm, without fuss or fight or argument. Even better is to see them listen and respond to the gospel as they fill the altar seeking more of God. I find hope that this generation is still excited to not only enjoy camp but get serious about their relationship with Jesus.
While my body reminds me that I am not as young as I try to be, and while being a cabin leader perhaps means sleep deprivation, it is only for a short time. The take away from all of this is that we need to invest in the future of our youth. We can never give up on this generation; we must persevere in our efforts to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with this generation and those who follow after them, as long as the Lord tarries. The more we do, the greater HOPE we will have in the future for The cause of Christ.
In my 50+ years of life I have spent portions of my summer first as a camper and later as camp staff, camp directors and in various ministry roles at camp for the vast majority of those years. Each time these summers remind me of the importance of investing in our youth not just with a summer camp, but with loving, encouraging, training and sharing Christ with our younger generations throughout the year.
For twenty years my family served in children and family ministries; while our role has transitioned to lead pastor now our commitment to young people has not changed. We have to be vigilant in sharing the gospel with ALL generations.
Everyone can help us in this endeavor! Men you can mentor boys who have no male influence in their lives or teach them valuable skills like working on their car or how to catch a large mouth bass. Men you can also help boys understand how to treat a lady and how to love and lead in their families as faithful followers of Christ. Ladies you can come alongside girls and encourage them in their self-esteem, encourage them to succeed in their professional life but also in their relationships and as a wife and mother. Most of all you can be present in their life and let them know you care and that they have a friend in you.
Joel 1:3 says “Tell your children about it, and let your children tell their children, and their children the next generation.”
But the teaching is not one-sided. There is much that we can learn from the younger generations as well. Our faith works best and the church is most successful, when all generations learn from each other and come together to love and encourage each other.
If you are a part of the Warsaw family, then please take the time to ask me how you can help. If you do not currently have a church family, then we would love to welcome you into ours at the Warsaw Church of God. Visit us this Sunday with worship at 10:30, we would love to welcome you “home”.
Blessings, Pastor Dana
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